Internal-combustion engine



ocu?, 1930. G. GRACE' -1,777,792'

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Fl'ed Dec.' 27, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 oct. 7, 1930. L. G. GRACE 1,777,792

INTERNAL COMBUST ION ENG I NE Filed Dec. 27, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 7, 1930. G. GRACE 1,777,792

I NTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Deo. 27, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 laurence garw @rd o@ Oct. 7, 1930. L. G. GRACE 1,777,792

I NTER-NAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Dec. 27, 1927 5 sheets-sheet 4 |50? 27dv To 9Q lawrenbe gow-.Zan greca Oct. 7, 1930. l.. G. GRACE 1,777,792

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Dec. 27, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 In feafar laurence argon graze@ Ul A cylinder. y

Patented oct. 7, 193e Pir" 'I LAURENGE eronnoN GRACE, or WELI.iniciaron` `New ZEALAND, "AssrGNoRJ To mirniir" n `Pis'roNVALVE (N. z.) LIMITED; OFWELLINGTONNEW ZEALAND, n GOMTA'NYQOF y NEWZIEALAND INTERNAL-coisnamsrron` ENGINE l Applicationled'December`27; 1927, SerialiN.i242,873,-and inGreat BritainJanuary-QZ,"1927. Y

This invention eoncernsimprovements in or relating. to internal-combustioni` `engines and hasA for its main: object to provide anfarrangef",

nient whereby the `cylinder of an engine may trol device which preferably alsor acts as a Val-ve for admitting mixture toandator allowing exhaust gases to escapefrornthe said `Preferably the control ldevice comprises a enginecylinder so as to act in -themanner de- Mseribedlin inyprior Patent No. 1,608,020v

granted November 23,1926.` i `In the accompanying drawings Figsfvi, 6," 7-,and8 are views showing in development-the surfaces o-fwtlie valve and j Valve-cylinder in various-positions described inpdetail hereinafter,V

' "Fig- 9`.is aeross-sectifonalyiew ofboth the main cylinder and Valv`e-oylinder`talen part- I `ly horizontally and partly on the line IIe-II `ot Fig. 1, the Valve being,

slightly; dilierent position; y

Fifg. 10 is a-timing-diagrarn;

andi

Thearrangement shown is substantially the sanievinr itsI general "construction Vas that de 13 inthe cylinder 10 is drivenbya connectingrod 14 from an inclined crank l5 so as to be rotated in` one directionthrough"90,O duri-ng one-half revolution and to be rotated 90o in `the oppositedirection` during the otherV however, in a` Filg; 11 is a perspective View oij' the val-ve,

Fig. 12 is` an elevation of a* portion Vof `the `V'a'lve-cylinder.

hal-reizolution while"V being `coii-tinuously` rer Y ciprocated. j y y j 1 j The engine piston 16`is coupledlinthe ustial manner by a connecting-ifrdl to fa :crank:

18, `balanced by a counterweght 19;; and:` the crank-shaft drives half-time gearing;` 2821.

[for rotation ofthe crank 15, an; idlerwheelv 22 being insertedfin the drive toconnect the; wheels 20, `21pandA vcause the crankl terre--` j tatein the saine direction-asxthe crank 18.

The orank 15 carries a"balance-weight231.1` l The two cylinders 10 and 1l haneiiat.

adjoining faces as shown in ig.9` andmaireV flanged as at 24 to receive securingeboltspass-..

ing `through holes 25 (Fig.12r) therein; Both cylinders are also formed with: integral j waterejackets 26, through whieh'the. various Fig. l-isi a longi-tudinalrsections of a single-,`

ports hereinafter describedextend asfcastf passages. `The engine Vcylinder jacket. ailso has a cast passage 27 which is threadede'to receive a sparking-plug 28.-:

The valve-cylinder` lOfisfclosedby capi;

29 bolted thereon and .onthe cylinder 111. j .Thel at tace ofthe valVe-.cylinderfli iadi joining the engine cylinder 11: has extend;

ing` through it three `ports30, 31, l321 register- Il L ing with eorrespondingtports inthe ifa'cenifthe` cylinder 11, `of which` only tTwo;de'signatedi` 33 and 34, are shown (Fig. 9); :11n addition: the valve cylinder.` has itwo.` ports aind spectively by apassage in the ywlyeto bede-Q tothe Carbureter` andjeXhanst-pipe (notl shown) respectively. i

` Therport. 32 is prolonged in the manner:in-jv Vdicated in Figs. 2, 3 andQ-"toopenintetliie"L valve-,cylinder 10; as shown: in Figs; 2, Bland 5to 8 atltwo places 'soaspto riiurnish'twoi substantally rectangular ports i371 :and `38.- `Ad` su.. B6 which` are adapted to. be-.brought into ,i communication' with theports ASQHand 3mi-rel jacent these` ports is further Icurwied :plonti` 39 (Figs.` 2to-8)` which extendstol'connect `ripa The yalve 13has aitransverse passageA `11T adapted to co-operateatits twoaends llforxn- Moreover, the Valve:.lilas` ending in ports 45, 46 (Figs. 5 to 9) coop erating with the ports 37, 38 and 39 in the valve cylinder.

The valve 13, due to its inclined-crank drive, receives, as above mentioned, a continuous reciprocatory and oscillatory motion and any point on the piston-valve periphery therefore executes a movement in aV substan tially oval or elliptical path. r1`his path is indicated in the developed views in Figs. 5 to 8 at 47 for a point 48 on the valve surface.

The ports in the valve-cylinder are in these views .shown in full lines and those in the valve in dotted lines, the views showing the relative positions of these ports at equal intervals throughout the cycle of operations. The point 48 being that considered will be followed in its movement along the curve 47 (in a clockwise direction) starting fromthe position 49 (Fig. 5) it occupies at the commencement of the cycle. At this time the ports 42, 43 are out of register with the ports 30, 31, 35, 36, but as the point moves fromV this position into that indicated in Fig. 5 the ports 42, 43 commence to overlap the ports 30 and 35 respectively as shown, thus placing the cylinder 11 in communication with the carbureter. The engine piston 16 is now moving downwards and mixture is thus sucked into the cylinder 10 through the ports 35, 43, passage 41, and ports 42, 30.

Such admission of mixture continues until the valve has reached the position where the point 48 is at its highest position 50 (Fig. 6) whereatthe port 42 is moved out of register with the port 30 and the normal charging of the cylinder 11 thus terminated. During the normal charging period, the ports 45 and 46 in the valve are out of action, but when the valve has travelled into the position indicated in Fig. 6 theport 46 has been brought into register with the port 37, and there is a momentary connection of the passage 44 in the valve through the port 3T with the cylinder 11 during which time mixture that has previously been admitted above the valve in the manner to be described and has been compressed by the upward movement of the said valve is enabled to iiow through the passage 44 and thence through the ports 46, 37 and 32 to the engine cylinder 11, thus effecting a supercharging operation after the normal charging has finished.

During the compression stroke of the'en gine piston 16, the port-s 42, 43 are, of course out of action but shortly after this stroke has commenced, the port 45 in the valve has come into coincidence with the casing port l39,*so that due to the reduction of pressure above the valve by reason ofthe downward movement of the latter, mixture enters through the cylinder ports 35 and 40 andpasses by way of the ports 39 and 45 to the passage 44'and thence to the space above the valve. This admission of mixture commences almost immediately after the supercharging has been effected, i. e. when the valve has moved slightly beyond the position shown in Fig. 6, and continues until the exhaust stroke has been partially effected. Fig. 7 shows the relative positions of the various ports when the explosion stroke has just commenced, while Fig. 8 shows the positions when the exhaust stroke has commenced. It will be noted that the exhaust ports 31, 36 have been brought into communication by the passage 41 before the explosion stroke of the piston 16 has ended and remain in communication until the valve has finished its cycle of operations, e. until the piston 16 has ended its. exhaust stroke.

rThe timing relatively to the movement of the main crank is indicated in Fig. 10 and will be referred to more in detail hereinafter.

The port 46 also for a short time co-operates with the port 39 during the admission of mixture through the latter, so that this port 46 also serves to admit mixture to the space above the valve in the same manner as the port 45. i

W hen the valve has reached a position immediately7 before that indicated in Fig. 8, it has, of course, commenced to move upwardly and the mixture above the valve is thus compressed, the port 45 being moved out of register with the port 39 immediately after the position shown in Fig. 8 has been passed through. During this time, exhaust of the cylinder 11 is taking place as above mentioned; the port 31 that opens into the combustion space in cylinder l1 then registering with port 42 and, hence, communicating via passage 41 and port 43 with the port 36 of the valve cylinder 10, through which port 36 the spent gases escape. Immediately bcfore the completion of the cycle, the horizontal extension 51 of the valve port 45 (Fig. 11) comes into register with nthe cylinder port 38, so that part of the compressed mixture Y above the valve is allowed to pass through the passage 44 and ports 51, 38, 32 and 34 to the cylinder 11 to scavenge the latter. At the commencement of the following inlet stroke, the port 45 is, of course, in the position shown in Fig. 5, wherein it has just passed the port 38.

rlhe remaining mixture is compressed by the valve in its continued upward movement during the commencement of the next cycle and it is this remaining quantity of mixture that is used in said next cycle for the supercharging operation Aabove described. The exhaust ports 31, 36 are, of course, still in communication by the passage 41 during the scavengingvoperation but are cut olf at the same time as the scavenging operation terminates, the valve then starting its next cycle.

It will now be clear from the cycle of operations described that Fig. 1 shows the engine in the position where the piston 16 is immea..

about to commence its exhaust stroke, while Fig. 9 shows it inthe position where the piston 16 has ,travelled through rather more than half of its admission stroke. As previously mentioned, Fig. 10 shows the tiiningrelatively to the movement of the `main crank 18. During the first half-revoiution thereof from point 52 to point 53 on the diagram, admission takes place, and from point 53 to point 54, i. e. during the next half-revolution, compression occurs, in the usual manner. At the point 55, however, when the crank has moved through 50 onfits second half-revolution, supercharging is started, this operation lasting during a 30 travel of the crank, until the point 56 is reached. i 1

The explosion stroke starts at the end of the second half-revolution (indicated at point54) and continues for 1409, at which` time, represented by vpoint 57, exhaust commences. In other words, the exhaust ports are opened before the end of the working stroke is reached. These ports remain in action until the end of the cycle, and in addition the supercharging ports come into action to scavenge the engine cylinder duringv the last 15o of the crank movement, i. e. during the movement between the points 58 and 59 on the diagram. At the end of the second revolution `of the crank (point 59) the scavenging and exhaust ports are all closed.

Ihile the construction described and illustrated is preferred, it will be'apparent i that without involving very substantial change, such construction may be reversed to the extent that two transverse passages may be provided in the valve for cooperation witha single port in the engine cylinder, in place of the passage l1 and the ports 30, 31.

Furthermore, airniight be utilized in place bustion engine, a cylinder, a piston valve movable therein, and means for simultaneously reciprocating and oscillating said valve to elfect supercharging and scavenging of the combustion space of the engine. Y

4. `In combination with an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, and a valve movable therein, an inclined crank for simultaneously reciprocating Vand, *oscillating said `valve to `eect` supercharging and scziwengV f ing of the ,combustion space ofthe engine, i

andmeans fordrivng said inclinedqcrank from the power` shaft ofthe engine.

5. `In combination with an internal` coin@ bustion engine, a single `movable valve ffor controlling the inlet toand exhaust from the engine and for compressing a fluid medium for-supercharging the` combustion space of the @engine Y 6. In Vcombination with anginternal combustion engine,-a ,single movable valvel` for controlling the inlet to and exhaust from the f engine` and for compressing "a fluid medium e for scavenging the combustion space of the engine. u i

7. In combination with an internal combustion engine, a piston valve for' controlling the admission" and exhaust phases of the opfr; eration of the engine-.andfor eifecting4 su eri charging;- of the combustion space thereof.

8. In combination 4with. an internal combustion engine, a piston valve for controlling the admission exhaust phases of the operationV of the engine and foreflecting scavenging of the combustion space thereof.

9. In combination with `an internal combustion engine, a cylinder, a piston valve movable therein, and means for simultaneously imparting to said valve continuous reciprocatory and oscillatory motion, said cylinder and valve being formed with passages and ports such that the valve controls theadmission and exhaust operations of the engine and eifects supercharging of the combustion space thereof. f

10. An internal combustion engine of the reciprocatory type having a power cylinder and a valvev cylinder, a piston valve movable in the valve cylinder, an inclined crank for imparting to said valve continuous reciprocatory and oscillatory motion, and means for i driving said crank fromthe crank gearyof the power cylinder, said cylinders ,and valve being provided with passages and portssuch thatthe valve controls the admission and exhaust operations of the power cylinder and eects supercharging of the combustion space i thereof. u, i 1,1. Anfinternal combustion engine of the reciprocatory type having a power cylinder and a valve cylinder, and a piston valve movable in the latter cylinder said valve cylinder being in port communication with the carbureter, exhaust pipe and power cylinder of the engine; and said piston valve having a passage communicating with said ports and also having a longitudinal passage by which a supercharging medium admitted' to the space above the valve may be admitted to the combustion space ofthe power cylinder.

12. An internal `combustion vengine of the reciprocating type having a power cylinder anda valve cylinder, a piston valve movable inY the'latter `cylinder; said valve cylinder beingin port communicationwth the oarbureter, exhaust pipe and power cylinder o the engine; and said piston valve having a passage communicating With said ports and also having a longitudinal passage by Which a `supercharging medium admitted to the space above the valve may be admitted to the combustion space of the power cylinder and means for imparting to said piston valve continuously both reoiprocatory and oscilla- Y tory movements.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my .signature this ninth day of December, 1927.

LAURENCE GORDON GRACE. a 

